Listening Habits

[poliphilo]

I'm taking part in the National Radio Listening Survey for Ipsos Mori this week.  Yesterday I didn't listen to the radio at all. This evening I listened to BBC Radio 4 between 5.15  and 6.15.  

I listen to the radio when I'm cooking, otherwise hardly at all.  The reason I didn't listen yesterday is because we bought pizza- and all I had to do was tart it up a bit with pepperoni and mozzarella and stick it under the grill. Today I made a proper meal from scratch.

I like to hear voices, not music. Now I think about it, my taste reflects my parents' taste- or perhaps more properly, my father's taste because now my mother is on her own she listens to Classic FM.  When I was a kid- before we took to eating in armchairs in front of the TV- we'd listen to comedy shows over supper. Those would have been on the old BBC Light Programme I think. Coming home from my grandparents house, in the car, at the weekend, we'd go upmarket to the BBC Home Service and take in the light classical music purportedly coming from The Palm Court of the Grand Hotel and Alastair Cooke's Letter from America (much missed). During the day my mother would listen to Women's Hour (a magazine programme) and the radio soaps- Mrs Dale's Diary (now defunct) and The Archers (still nurdling on).
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When I went away to boarding school I took a little tranny with me (transistor radio) and kept up with the comedy shows and (because I identified as an intellectual) started tuning in to the talk shows on the BBC 3rd Programme.

I've never listened to pop.

Ailz listens to Terry Wogan and the other witterers on Radio 2; I can't stand those guys; they all sound so bloody pleased with themselves.

Sometimes, when we're on a long car journey, we'll switch on Radio 4 and listen to whatever comes up- drama, documentaries, talk. It's invariably smart and interesting.  So why is it always the TV I put on of  an evening- even when there's nothing on that isn't silly?   It must be that I like the pretty pictures.  Not much of an excuse, really.

I've got the TV on now. It's informing me about Fishing in the South Pacific. The visuals, when I bother to turn round and watch, are gorgeous, but mostly I'm concentrating on my writing and letting it murmur away in the background.  I might just as well be listening to the radio.


This is a reconstituted and slightly augmented version of an entry I tried to post last night- only the site was down.

Comments

[ibid.livejournal.com]

Please be nice to the mori people I used to work for them

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I like both music and voices - sadly, here in America, our talk radio is abysmal.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm being very nice. I invited their rep into the house and even offered her coffee. And now I'm filling in the form religiously.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We're very lucky to have the BBC- and especially when it comes to radio.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I believe Radio 4 i-player is available in other countries, unlike the BBC TV i-player which is limited to the UK. It's a mixed bag but always worth dipping into.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I discovered Radio 4 at the age of about nine, when my parents were listening to Radio 2. I've listened ever since, most of the time I am in the car or in the kitchen, I'm soaking up knowledge - and trivia - on Radio 4. "Just a Minute" makes me switch off though, as does John Humphries haranguing politicians at 8.15am without giving them the chance to reply.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I used to listen to Just a Minute in the days of Kenneth Williams and Derek Nimmo- a long, long time ago.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Since the "good old days' of TV have long since passed away, I have been missing the good old days of radio. I recently found out that I could get some of those old radio shows reruns on my computer. I just typed in Old Radio Shows Reruns on the Search line and the listings popped up. Sometimes, while I am playing games on the computer I listen to Jack Benny, Amos and Andy, etc., and remember when I was a child, a teen, a young woman - the days before the TV interfered with good conversation. Funny, radio never did that...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We didn't have those shows, but we had classics of our own- Hancock's Half Hour, The Navy Lark, Round the Horne. I'm not sure I'd want to re-run them. They were funny then, would they still be funny now? I'm not sure I particularly want to find out.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

Many is the night that the BBC World Service (overnight feed) lulls me to sleep. It's almost as good as a bedtime story.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The World Service is something we Brits ought to be very proud of.